The definition of Jared Barden
Archive for November, 2006
The Purpose of Problems
Nov 27th
Tonight I heard an interesting point of view while I was listening to the radio after Monday night basketball. It had to do with the problems and hardships we go through in life.
The particular comment had to do with the life of Joseph, who was left in a pit by his brothers and later sold into slavery. His is a fascinating tale in the book of Genesis. Give it a read sometime. Joseph’s older brother, Ruben, was planning on coming back to get Joseph and bring him back home. He simply wanted to scare Joseph. However, Joseph ended up getting sold and eventually ended up in Egypt.
The commentator mentioned that if Ruben had been successful and brought Joseph back home, he would never have experienced the plan God had for his life. He would never have become second in command of all of Egypt, and he would not have been able to help out his family when famine struck in the land of Israel.
I thought this was an interesting take on Joseph’s life. Joseph went through a lot of rough stuff. Sold by his brothers. Taken to a strange land. Worked for a man whose wife falsely accused him of rape. Ended up in jail. Not the kinds of things any of us would probably consider as good or blessings. However, God used these situations to shape Joseph into the person He wanted him to be.
We’ve been going through a hard time with Danielle’s jaw. It doesn’t seem to want to cooperate, but we are trusting for God to completely heal it. I took this little minute or so of what I heard in the conversation as a real encouragement in our situation. I hope it is in whatever you’re going through also.
The Name is Thanksgiving
Nov 25th
I hate, hate, hate it when people refer to Thanksgiving as Turkey Day.
I’m not 100% sure why this phrase elicits such a negative reaction from me, but it just bothers me. It feels that so often in this country when their is a holiday that might have even remotely religious undertones, we try to divert the holidy away from its true meaning/purpose.
So, Thanksgiving becomes Turkey Day. Christmas becomes all about Santa, elves, and gimme gimme gimme whatever I want. Easter becomes about eating as much candy as possible and about cute little bunnies.
Don’t get me wrong, I love all the aspects of these holidays. I’m not on an anti-Santa campaign or anything like that here. I just wish that we wouldn’t forget the meanings of these holidays.
Thanksgiving – be thankful for the blessings in your life, whether or not you believe in the same God I do. Be thankful for health, family, friends, your job, your house, etc. etc. We as Americans have many things to be thankful for.
Christmas – take time to realize the true meaning of the holiday. It is about the birth of Jesus Christ – plain and simple. Even we as Christians tend to materialize the holiday more than it is supposed to be sometimes. Without Jesus, we have no hope as people in this world. If you don’t believe that, that’s ok, but it’s my job to share that with you.
Easter – although the birth of Christ is important, His death on the cross and subsequent resurrection is even more so. Without Christ’s death and resurrection we have no atonement for our sins. We have No One to bare our punishment for us. We have no hope. Period.
I love that these 3 major holidays come pretty much right in a row. And even though the Christian overtones of these holidays may have diminished over time, it does not mean that they are any less true.
I hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I hope that this holiday season finds you well. It if doesn’t, look up. Look up to the God who is our one and only hope in this world. You won’t regret it.
Give to Caesar What is Caesar’s
Nov 25th
I was reading my latest copy of Newsweek tonight, and I stumbled across some responses to the editor that caught my attention.
The first response include the quote from Scripture, “Render to Caesar that things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
I have no problem with that statement at all. After all it is Scripture. However I do take issue with the conclusion the author came to. They go on to say, “I take that to mean separation of church and state.” Woah now, that’s drawing quite the conclusion on that one.
If you look at the context of the Scripture quote, found in Matthew 22:15-22, the religious leaders of the day were again trying to trap Jesus into responding to a situation in a manner they deemed inappropriate. They asked Jesus whether or not he believed it was right to pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus asked whose picture was on the coin (Caesar’s), and then responded telling the leaders that they should give to Caesar what is Caesar’s (the taxes) and give to God what is God’s.
How this has anything to do with the separation of church and state is far beyond me. Never mind the fact that separation of church and state, as it has been come to be known today, has nothing to do with what the 1st Amendment says – “Congress shall make no law regarding the establishment of religion OR (emphasis mine) the prohibition thereof.” In my opinion, that amendment has been abused and misused in all sorts of ways to the point where people are afraid to say the name God or Jesus in any sort of public place, for fear that they are violating this mythical idea of the separation of church and state.
As I understand it, the founding fathers did not want a state run religion or church. I completely agree with them. I DO NOT want the government, as well intentioned as it might be, running my church in any way shape or form.
Many of the founding fathers knew the importance of seeking God’s guidance as they went about their governmental duties. I believe that is extremely important. I believe in a God who is actively involved in our lives. A God who wants us to come to Him and ask Him what He would have us do.
I’ve heard many times from politicians that faith should be kept as a private matter and shouldn’t have an effect on their job. Well, I believe that your faith and beliefs should permeate every area of your life. Every decision we make should be based on what are faith tells us. The way you conduct yourself in your job should be a reflection of your moral character. Like it or not, if you are a liar in your personal life, it seems to me that you would be likely to be a liar in your professional life, and vice versa, no matter how much society wants to tell us that the two are completely separate.
That’s all for tonight.
Radical Islam
Nov 15th
I’m currently watching a special on CNN Headline News by Glenn Beck, entitled, “Exposed: The Extremist Agenda.” It has some serious warnings for peace loving people around the world.
Now, before I go on, let me make it perfectly clear that I have nothing against Muslims. I DO have a problem with Radical Islam. There is a difference between the two. The problem is that all we see in the U.S. media is that Islam is a religion of peace, and while that may be true for many Muslims, there is a quickly growing faction of Islam, Radical Islam, that presents a threat unlike any we have probably ever seen before.
In the short time I’ve been watching the program, I have seen a 3 year old girl call Jews apes and pigs. I’ve seen Islamic cartoons where martyrdom for the sake of eliminating Jews is glorified. I’ve seen all sorts of troubling things.
We as Americans, as Christians, need to be educated about the threats that we face. We need to realize that there is a “religion” out there that wants nothing more than the destruction of the Jews (Israel) and also the destruction of America. We need to wake up and deal with that cold, hard threat.
In America, we are so worried about being politically correct that it really becomes a detriment. We need to see threats as what they are – threats. We need to stop dancing around the issue and hoping it will go away, because it most likely won’t.
I take special issue with this sort of hatred, because it is particularly targeted against God’s chosen people – the people of Israel – the Jews. It you accept what the Bible says, and I do, you will see a point in the future where many nations will descend on Israel with the purpose of its destruction. Unfortunately they will be in for a rude awakening when God comes to Israel’s defense, but that is a another story for another night. If you watch some of the statements coming out of Iran lately, Iran may not be far away from such an attack on Israel.
We live in interesting times, to say the least. We need to be more educated. We need to understand what is going on in the world. We need to get right with God, and fast. We need to learn to love, and to not display the kind of hate that would eliminate another human being solely on their religious beliefs.
My $.02 for the night…
The Little Things
Nov 14th
It’s the little things in life, more often than the big things, that seem to cause us the most headaches. Why is that?
I was listening to Ron Hutchcraft this morning on his daily “A Word With You” program on the Family Life Network (90.3 FM for those of you in the New York/Pennsylvania area). He was talking about how it’s the little sins, the little compromises, the little “white lies” that often get us in the most trouble in the long run.
It seems like the “little” issues in our life are the things that corrode character and cause pain. Look at Pastor Ted Haggard, who was recently outed for some activity with a male prostitute as well as possible drug use. I’m sure this situation started out with little compromises, “little” sins, and then grew and grew until it finally reared its ugly head. Sin has a way of doing that somehow.
It’s also the little things in life that cause frustration. Maybe the way you don’t pick up after yourself as much as you should around the house. Maybe it’s the things that you forget to do that should come naturally to you. Maybe it’s a little annoyance you have with someone that grows and grows until you end up at the point where you can’t stand to be around them.
I know we’ve heard about it 1,000 times, but life is too important to stress about little things. Unless they are little sins. If so, take care of them before they get out of hand.
But if there are little things causing problems between you and a friend, between you and a loved one, take care of them. You’ll be glad that you did in the long run. It’s not worth it to lose a friendship or even a marriage over petty issues that can usually be solved in a single conversation.
Why do the little things in life cause us the most problems? Probably because we ignore them and let them build and fester over time until they become more than we can handle.
Don’t let your little issue have the time to grow. Deal with it today.
What Republicans Need?
Nov 7th
Maybe we, Republicans and Conservatives, need the Democrats to whip their respective Republican candidates around tonight and swing the balance of power on Capitol Hill.
We need to get energized and more involved as a whole. We need I think to see Republicans stand for Republican values and not be wishy washy and involved in all sorts of embarrassing corruption and moral issues. There is a lot of room for change within the Republican party, and that is a good thing. I for one would like to see more politicians who use Christians to get elected start acting out some Christian values during their time on the Hill.
Perhaps a loss this year will invigorate voters for the 2008 election. That would not be a bad thing.
Democrats, it may be your turn to call the shots on Capitol Hill. Let’s see how your plan unfolds, because I have yet to see what this grand plan is, but I know it will be different than the Republican plan. That much I’ve heard over and over.
No matter your political affiliation, I think people agree we need to return to morals in this country. I guess everyone has a different set of what they call morals, but I would like to see a return to traditional American values. Look back at the founding fathers. Look at what they had to say about God and his role in our country. It might just surprise you.
When it all comes down to it really, I know that God is in control, no matter who may be in power in Washington, and that is enough to help me sleep soundly tonight.